Flyweight contender Maycee Barber was on the wrong end of a Knockout of the Year contender at UFC Seattle this past Saturday, but despite the setback, was in good spirits following the scary scene.
Barber (15-3) was caught with a nasty two-punch combo by Alexa Grasso in the Fight Night card’s co-main event, spinning around as she crumpled to the ground. Grasso, very much unaware of how badly Barber was injured, jumped on and locked up a rear-naked choke until the ref pried her off. The victoy came by knockout, not submission, as Barber was already out, and the lasting image was of Maycee Barber laying on her back, eyes open but clearly out of it.
In a statement following the fight, Barber admitted she didn’t remember much of what happened, but insisted her rematch with Grasso was still one of the best nights of her life.
Admitting that it was not the post she wanted to be making, Barber stated on video that “I wanted to come on here and say thank you to the UFC and thank you to Alexa for the opportunity. I wanted to go out there and get my opportunity to get my rematch and dominate and get the win back and unfortunately, it was not my night. I got caught and Alexa did an amazing thing. She’s a phenomenal fighter.”
“I don’t really remember a whole lot,” Barber continued. “All I know is every time I go on social media, I look like I’m dead and that’s not a very fun thing to see. So I’ve been trying to stay off social media but I also wanted to come on here and at least tell you guys that I am OK.”
“I am very blessed to live the life that I do. As tough as it is, going out there and being able to do that, what I did last night was still one of the greatest nights of my life. Despite all of that, that’s still one of the better nights of my life that I’ve ever had. I’ve had some pretty tough days so that was still one of the greatest days of my life. Being able to walk out there and being able to do what I’ve done.”
“I will be back, I’m going to heal up and put in the work and get back out there,” she promised. Barber went on to thank all those who supported her, thanking them for the “love and support.”
Barber saw a seven-fight win streak dating back to 2021 snapped in the loss. Her last two defeats have come at the hands of Grasso.
